When they were out of earshot, Leodin started to snicker.

“Never seen a man fly before.”

Bordan harrumphed. “I didn’t need your help, Edwin.”

“No, you didn’t.” Edwin replied. “I just didn’t feel like a brawl today, and in a few moments that’s exactly what we would’ve had. I have no doubt that you’d have won, it just wasn’t worth our time.”

Bordan walked in silence for a few minutes, and Edwin already considered the matter over. Suddenly Bordan stopped and turned to Edwin with a sigh. “I suppose you’re right, Edwin. And while he was an idiot, he probably didn’t deserve to be beaten up over it.”

Edwin nodded. “Sounded like he lost someone close to him, didn’t it?.”

Bordan nodded.

“I mean, that’s not our fault, is it?” Leodin asked hesitantly.

“No, it isn’t.” Bordan agreed. “It’s nobody’s fault, really. Sometimes people die and we can’t do anything about it. Maybe the other party could’ve prevented some of those deaths if they’d made it sooner, but they probably had a similar workload to ours, fighting monsters every few days for weeks. So yes, the boy was wrong to attack us, but that doesn’t mean we should punish him for it. In fact, thank you, Edwin, for tossing him out on his behind. I think I would’ve regretted fighting him.”

That caught Edwin off guard, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. Walter had never had many friends with whom he could’ve had heartfelt conversations, and the sincerity in Bordan’s eyes made Edwin uncomfortable. It felt strangely nice, but he didn’t know how to react.

“Sure.” He finally said quietly.

Having finished their fourth request, the party now had to head back west. In fact, they were pretty much retracing their steps to Rellick’s Rock, where they would turn south again. There were no roads that connected the string of villages near the Clawed Woods to the area around Mason’s Wood, which was the reason they’d had to trek through the forest on their way there. They could try to head directly to the next village on their list, but with only a very rough map as well as the sun and stars to guide them through the wilderness, the chance of getting lost and ending up somewhere else was too high. Heading directly west until they hit the road that connected the villages was a much safer way, and now that the goblin request was fulfilled, they didn’t need to hurry as much anymore.

The first day was uneventful, and by late afternoon Leodin spotted a hunters’ hideout. It was a small earthen structure, really just a covered hole, that hunters could spend the night in if they strayed too far from town or wanted to hunt farther out. They still had an hour or two of daylight left, but the possibility of sleeping in the relative safety of four walls and a roof was too good to pass up, even if those walls were bare dirt and the roof just covered branches. Bordan insisted on posting at least one watch, and after all they had seen during the last weeks, none of the others argued. Edwin took the second shift, unfurled his bedroll in the cramped space and lay down. He found that he had a hard time falling asleep, and he wished he’d asked to take additional shifts again. He didn’t think Bordan would’ve easily let him, but not being able to sleep was even more annoying than staying awake on purpose. The calming sounds of Salissa practicing her telekinesis slowly soothed him until finally sleep took Edwin into her embrace.

Until Salissa shook him awake what felt like seconds later, that was. Edwin sat up and rubbed his eyes, feeling disoriented and grumpy. In fact, it was probably the first time since becoming Edwin that he felt truly tired, even though he could already feel his regenerative powers clearing his mind.

Note to self: Short sleep is worse than no sleep. Edwin thought sullenly. He carefully extricated himself from his bedroll and the other two men, as the small space had forced the large Edwin to be imaginative in finding a sleeping spot. As he shuffled past the young mage he whispered:

“How’s the training going?”

“Good.” She answered, equally quietly. “It really is getting much easier, I could get a link within seconds before I stopped.”

She concentrated, pointing towards a pebble by the wall. As she had said, after a few seconds of a scrunched forehead and determined look, the pebble rose into the air.

“I think I’ll be able to use it in a fight soon.”

“Good.” Edwin replied. Walter had never taught anyone else his method, and he was surprised by how quickly she was advancing. Having to figure out everything using trial and error had taken him a lot longer. “But don’t rush it. You know how stressful and disorienting combat is, you don’t want to try something you’re not comfortable with when a monster is running at you.”

Mennick had said this exact thing almost word for word to Edwin, and while the instructor hadn’t specifically meant magic, Edwin was sure that it applied just the same. He also didn’t think that the old grouch would mind Edwin misappropriating his lesson to give it to the mage.

“Of course, I know that.” Salissa answered with a distracted wave. Edwin knew the look in her eyes. She was a young mage with a powerful new toy, and he’d just told her not to play with it. She’d heard that he’d said something, but she hadn’t really listened. Edwin sighed, sitting down next to the opening of the hideout. He stuck his head out from underneath the cloak they’d hung as a makeshift door flap and listened to the sounds of the nightly forest for a short while. The quiet was only interrupted by the occasional nocturnal bird or bat flying by, and small animals darting from cover to cover, looking for food while hiding from their predators. All was well.

When he pulled his head back inside, Salissa was in her bedroll and breathing slowly. Edwin pulled out his dagger and placed it beside him. The cramped quarters made it very awkward to swing weapons, and the short blade would be his best bet if something ended up attacking them inside the hideout. Soon, boredom made his mind wander, and his watch passed without incident while he was mulling over half-forgotten ritual projects. Talking about the other adventuring party that suffered an injury, as well as getting hurt himself several times now, had reminded him of that one time when Walter had been part of a team of specialists gathered to design a portable medical ritual for the faculty of healing…

--- ----- ---

Having stopped earlier than usually the day before, the adventurers had to make up some lost time if they wanted to reach Rellick’s Rock by nightfall. The party spoke little as they marched, sacrificing some caution for speed. Going west meant walking downhill more often than uphill, but it was much more intense than their last trip had been. Edwin himself didn’t care, of course, and Leodin was an experienced hunter with fairly little gear, but even Bordan was more concentrated on the process of walking than usual. After a few hours, Salissa was breathing heavily, but Edwin was impressed that she kept up without complaint. The sun completed its circuit across the sky, and by the time it set, they had barely reached a road.

“This should be the right one, going north to south along the Woods’ edge.” Bordan said, looking up and down the dirt road. “There isn’t another of this size in this area.”

“That’s nice and all,” Edwin said slowly, “but which way is Rellick’s Rock? Are we to the north or south of it?”

The adventurers looked around.

“I have no idea.” Bordan said finally. “Leodin?”

“No clue.” The young man shrugged apologetically. “I can’t see anything familiar, but with the darkness that doesn’t mean much. My guess is that we’re south of it, but I can’t be sure.”

Bordan sighed. “Then I guess we have to decide: Do we head either way, trying to reach a village tonight, or do we look for a place to hunker down and head south tomorrow?”

Nobody had an answer, so Bordan finally decided that they’d slowly head south, looking for a good place for a camp on the way. Half an hour later, when the last light was barely illuminating the underside of the distant clouds, they found a large tree not unlike a weeping willow, with branches and leaves forming a natural hollow. It was far from ideal but continuing in the darkness would’ve been too dangerous. Bordan asked for double watches, giving Edwin a piercing look when he volunteered to stay up again. He agreed, however, and so began their third night sleeping in the wild.